Work Text:
“Oy Deku! I thought you said you’d be asleep when I got home!”
“What, not even an ‘I’m home’ for me?” Izuku laughs, hoping his voice isn’t as high-pitched as it usually is when he’s feeling guilty, and hunches further over his keyboard. “I’ll be done really soon, Kacchan, I told the kids they could send me questions up until midnight and Kouta just sent me one, it won’t take me more than five minutes to highlight the key quotes in Hamlet’s soliloquy —”
Izuku shrieks when strong arms heft him out of his chair and into a princess carry, but Katsuki doesn’t drop him. He only rolls his eyes while Izuku catches his breath, hooks Izuku’s chair so he can drop into it, and settles Izuku on his lap before whipping his glasses off.
“Kacchan, I need those!”
Katsuki huffs and rolls his eyes. “That snot-nosed brat won’t die if you don’t reply straight away, nerd.”
Izuku opens his mouth, a protest for Katsuki’s uncalled-for name-calling on the tip of his tongue, but Katsuki leans in and presses their lips together. Katsuki’s are slightly chapped, and he smells more like fire and smoke than he usually does, but Izuku sighs and kisses him back after a moment.
Kisses are kisses, after all, no matter how sweaty Katsuki is or how much he smells like a bushfire. Then Katsuki cards careful, calloused fingers through Izuku’s hair and flicks his tongue across the seam of Izuku’s lips, and that thought leaves Izuku’s mind.
By the time Katsuki pulls back, tongue licking his lips and smug contentment in his eyes, Izuku’s cheeks are definitely pink. He’s also out of breath in a way that Katsuki is not, and it takes him long moments to say, “Well, that’s one way to say ‘I’m home’.”
“Would’ve been nicer if you were in bed and not overworking yourself.”
This time, it’s Izuku’s turn to roll his eyes. Trust Katsuki to ruin a perfectly nice moment after his perfectly nice kiss. “I finished my marking before I came home! I wasn’t even writing lesson plans while I was waiting for any last questions to come in! Besides, look who’s talking about overworking — I saw the news, Kacchan, and I know that fire was put out an hour ago! You weren’t the acting captain, either!”
Katsuki, predictably, dodges Izuku’s unvoiced question by shooting his own. “So you knew I was late and you still stayed up?”
“Kacchan, this isn’t about me right now — we’re discussing you coming home late!”
Katsuki scowls and rubs Izuku’s head, hard. When Izuku whines and shoves his hand off, Katsuki traps him in a hug and digs his chin into the crown of Izuku’s head.
“Kacchan!”
“I ain’t dumb, Deku.” Katsuki squeezes Izuku until he wheezes, then relaxes his arms until they’re loosely curled around Izuku’s waist. “You might’ve been the one that graduated college, but I know I was the one who asked about you overworking yourself first. So. Wanna tell me why you’re up?”
Izuku tries to escape Katsuki’s hold, but Katsuki’s arms tighten warningly when he does. Unwilling to elbow Katsuki in vulnerable places (which assumed that his buff boyfriend had any), Izuku huffs and leans his head against Katsuki’s chest.
“I’m taking care of myself, all right? I know I shouldn’t stay up too long, and I should get enough sleep… but if I can’t help my students when they need me, then who will help them?” Izuku smiles and pats Katsuki’s cheek — he doesn’t need to see his boyfriend’s face to know he’s scowling. “I promise I’ll sleep after I’ve answered Kouta’s question. It really won’t take me more than five minutes, Kacchan.”
Katsuki harrumphs, but his hands slide over Izuku’s forearms in a gentle, reassuring caress. It’s a habit Katsuki developed very quickly after they’d first met, when the soul-mark Izuku once thought were freckles on his left forearm had glowed reddish-gold at Katsuki’s touch, and they both watch the colours ripple on Izuku’s tawny skin.
“Five minutes,” Katsuki finally grumbles. “Then I’m gonna shut your laptop and haul you off to bed, y’hear me?”
Katsuki does have a scowl when Izuku pulls back to look at him, but it wavers when Izuku presses a kiss to his cheek and rubs their noses together.
“Thanks Kacchan!”
“You’ve got 275 seconds left, Deku!”
Izuku squawks, scrambles for his glasses and shifts to type on his keyboard, but he never makes a move to leave Katsuki’s lap. Katsuki doesn’t shove him off either, even though he’s still in his work pants and he hasn’t taken a shower yet — he only wraps his arms around Izuku’s waist and keeps them there, solid and warm.
For all his threats, Katsuki doesn’t nag or distract Izuku as he composes his email and shuts down his computer. When Izuku takes off his glasses and turns to press a kiss to Katsuki’s lips, Katsuki’s already leaning in to meet him halfway.
It’s rare for Katsuki to be this soft, and rarer still for him to let Izuku use the bathroom first when they both need it.
Izuku’s not complaining though. He’s the furthest thing from complaining when he walks out, freshly changed into pyjamas and teeth thoroughly brushed, to the sight of Katsuki in nothing but his boxers.
It’s a long time before Katsuki gets his shower. It takes longer still for Katsuki and Izuku to get in bed together, Katsuki’s arms curled around Izuku’s shoulders and Izuku’s head pillowed over Katsuki’s heart, but Izuku breathes in Katsuki’s caramel-matcha-smoke scent and hides a smile in Katsuki’s shirt.
“The hell’re you smiling at, nerd?”
“Nothing, Kacchan!”
Seconds later, Izuku whispers, “Sweet dreams, Katsuki.”
Before he falls asleep, Izuku brushes his fingers over the little golden-green sun on the side of Katsuki’s neck, and hears Katsuki whispering back, “Yeah — sleep well, Izuku.”